If you rely on Sydney's Light Rail system to get to work, you'll need to look into alternative options this week. In a bid for fairer pay and working conditions, Sydney’s Light Rail workers are going on strike – with all inner-Sydney Light Rail lines set to shut between 7.30am and 10.30am, and again from 3.30pm to 6.30pm from today (Monday, July 22) until Friday July 26. Want to learn more about what that will mean for you? Read on.
During peak hours this coming work week, Light Rail lines will stop operating across central Sydney, with some trams further out of the city operating on a reduced schedule. As it stands, the major strikes will affect the L1 Dulwich Hill Line between Lilyfield and Dulwich Hill, the L2 Randwick Line between Circular Quay and Central Chalmers Street and the L3 Kingsford Line between Central Chalmers Street and Juniors Kingsford. You can learn more about which routes will be affected, plus disruptions to other routes, over here.
The decision to strike comes from the rail, tram and bus union (RTBU), who are appealing for increased wages and more paid sick days. According to the RTBU’s secretary David Babineau, Light Rail workers regularly use up their allocated ten days of paid sick leave because of the physical toll that the job takes – explaining that it’s common for drivers or network controllers working on a tight roster to become too fatigued to do their job safely.
On the pay front, the union has been campaigning for a 23 per cent pay increase for the past four-year period, and are taking a stand against the 18 per cent increase that’s been offered instead by transport operator Transdev.
“Four years ago that may have been OK, but in the last four years, we have seen every single commodity from energy to food to petrol and rent has increased significantly,” Babineau told the Guardian.
In in attempt to encourage Transdev – who reportedly turned over $9 billion last year – RTBU’s Light Rail workers will be taking industrial action during this week’s busiest travel periods, with Transdev responsible for coming up with a contingency plan for all inner-Sydney Light Rail routes. During the week-long peak-hour strike, buses will replace trams on the inner-city routes.
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